


Succumbing to Paradise

by BlackInkOnly



Category: Final Fantasy XIII-2
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-11
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-04-03 21:26:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4115458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackInkOnly/pseuds/BlackInkOnly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Noel had been sent somewhere else after his one on one fight with Caius in the Void Beyond?</p>
<p>Love truly can be a dangerous thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Succumbing to Paradise

     Noel fell to his hands and knees. His swords pushed out of reach. Looking forward all he could see were Caius’s feet coming towards him. This was it; he lost the fight. He watched as the other man towered over him with a smile, raising the sword that would end his life. He closed his eyes. Without hesitating, the blade came down, piercing his body…

     His eyes flew open and found nothing but darkness. It felt as though his limbs were tangled in something. He furiously began to thrash about, throwing the barrier off. From beside him someone reached out to take a hold of him. The moment the stranger touched him he pushed back only to fall over a ledge and land on the floor a short distance away. 

As he scrambled to his feet, he heard a small click and light flooded the room. He turned to face his supposed attacker, and found Hope. “Noel?” His voice was urgent but soft; he was in a loose fitting shirt and shorts, sitting on his knees upon the bed he had just thrown himself off of. “Noel are you alright? What happened?” 

     Noel stared into his eyes, “H-Hope?” The silver haired man nodded slowly. The hunter looked down at himself and saw that he was also wearing shorts and a plain blue T-shirt. Noel took a few steps forward and reached out to touch him. Was he real? Just before he made contact, he stopped. This did not feel right. He turned his head to take in the bedroom; it was not familiar at all. Then the thought occurred to him that he and Hope were sleeping next to one another. 

     Hope stood up slowly and took a hold of the hunters’ hands, guiding them around to rest on his back. He raised his own hands and placed them gently on Noels cheeks, “Look at me,” he said in a soft tone. “Talk to me. What happened? Were you dreaming?” 

     The brunette stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. He shook his head, “No… not dreaming. I was…” he tried so hard to remember. What was he doing? His memory flashed black boots and a tremendous sword, “I-I… I was going to die.” He shook his head again, “No, I did. I died.” His body began to shake. He was dead: wasn’t he?

     Hope wrapped his arms around Noel’s neck and nuzzled their cheeks together softly. “Don’t say that, you’re fine.” The hunter felt himself being pulled closer into his partners’ arms. He slid his hands up and down Hopes back, pulling him closer too. He felt real. Closing his eyes, he inhaled the man before him; he smelled real. A moment later, Hope kissed him reassuringly. He even tasted real. 

     Breaking away from the kiss, Noel felt his cheeks flush and his heart pound. He pursed his lips and looked around. The room still seemed unfamiliar. “No, something’s wrong. I don’t know this place.”

     A confused look came across Hopes face, “Noel this is out first night here it might take a few days for you to get used to waking up in this room.” The director turned to look at the clock, “Look, It’s 5 am and the sun will be coming up soon. Why don’t we just get this day started and we’ll go to bed early tonight.” As he stepped back to break away Noel grabbed a hold of him tighter. For some reason he was terrified that if Hope left his arms, he would vanish. He could feel his face drop, this still didn’t seem right.

     “Noel stop, you’re scaring me. Why are you acting like this?” Hope gently placed his hands on Noels shoulders and pushed him back, “Let’s go into the living room and I’ll get some coffee started. You just sit down.” He turned to lead the way through the door. 

     The two men made their way down the hall. Halfway through Hope managed to find the light switch. It was crowded with boxes all labeled with everything from bedroom to utility closet. They had just moved in, maybe that’s why he didn’t recognize anything. Noel wished he could stop to see what was inside. He saw on large box as they entered the living room labeled “Books”. He stopped in his tracks; an unfamiliar memory came into his head. They both carried that box. He even heard his own voice talking to Hope, ‘Next time we put the books in bags. No more stuffing them all into one box!’ 

     Hope hardly noticed his partner stop and continued into the kitchen, turning on lights as he went. Once he was in, Noel hear him sigh loudly, “I knew we should have unpacked the kitchen yesterday. Now I have to sort through this stuff to find cups.” The next thing Noel heard was the sound of boxes opening, paper shuffling and eventually the sound of glasses knocking together to make a faint clang as Hope washed them in the sink. 

     He made his way around the boxes to sit on the couch. His leg bumped against another box as he has down. This one had ‘pictures’ written across the side. Noel reached down and opened the box desperate to find something he could recognize. Inside were photos in frames, in photo books and even loose ones in sleeves you get from the photo shop. Some were of people he didn’t immediately recognize. From the obvious resemblance, he knew some were of Hope and his family. Then he found some of the two of them. 

     The first one he found they were sitting on opposite sides of the picnic table in someone’s back yard. You could see the blue house behind Hope. Together they were dressed in plain khaki pants and a couple of T-shirts. Hopes was blue, his was green. There was a young girl playing in the background with black hair and yellow sundress. They were both turned towards the camera smiling. Suddenly, another unfamiliar memory came to mind and it felt like déjà vu. He remembered that girl. She was loud and full of questions. It felt strange and foreign to remember such things. 

     Photo after photo brought what felt like old dreams back to Noel. It still felt wrong, like being brainwashed. However, his body was supporting the pictures. He could almost smell the popcorn when he found the photo of the two of them standing in line for a movie with friends that he felt were recognizable strangers. 

     After a moment his attention was pulled away and heard Hopes voice, “I’m not even going to try and find the coffee maker. We’re just going to have juice for now.” He opened the fridge and pulled out a brand new orange juice. Noel even remembered buying that. However, his memories didn’t feel right. He remembered them in third person. As though he was standing outside watching him and Hope walk through the grocery store slightly bickering over how much was too much to pay for orange juice.

     Suddenly he felt a cold chill run through him. He stood up and began to dart his head side to side. He heard his partner behind him, “Noel? What’s wrong?”

     Noel felt the chill again. “I don’t know… It feels,” he paused. What did it feel like? It felt like they weren’t alone. Someone else was there. “It feels like someone else is here.” 

     Hope gave an exaggerated shudder, “No Noel don’t say that! You’re going to make me think this place is haunted. I’ll start hearing every little noise and think it’s something paranormal.”

     In the back of his mind, he remembered Hope hated movies like that. Anything that wasn’t scientifically explainable was terrifying to him. 

_Noel…._

     The hunter turned sharply to face the wall behind the couch. He heard something, he knew it. Someone called his name. 

     “Noel, I’m not kidding. Stop doing that it’s freaking me out.” Hope said in a warning voice.

     “No,” he replied. “I heard something. It was my name.” 

     Hope groaned as he walked in with two cups of juice and set them on the coffee table. “It was probably your imagination. I think that dream just has you on edge.”  He grabbed a hold of the box containing the photos and moved it away from the couch to make room for himself to sit. “Noel just sit down, please. I really don’t like it when you joke around like that.” 

     Noel exhaled loudly. He wasn’t joking. He knew he did. Slowly he sat down next to Hope and grabbed one of the cups. It felt solid in his hand and cold to the touch. He brought it to his lips and tasted the orange juice in his mouth. This was reality; it had to be. What was wrong with him?

_Noel listen to me…_

     Noel slammed the cup down and looked around, “Don’t tell me you didn’t hear that!” His voice was growing louder. He heard something that time for sure. Someone was talking to him. 

     He felt Hope grab a hold of his forearms. “Noel look at me.” The brunette turned and faced him. As he stared into his eyes, he felt like he was going into a trance. He was starting to remember their kisses, their hugs, even making love to this man. His heart was telling him to lean in close and steal those lips. Even his body ached to hold the man before him close and never let go. 

     The cold chill ran through him again,  _Noel stop!_

     Still, he couldn’t pull away from Hopes eyes. His lover leaned in close, “Noel, listen to me. It was a dream. You need to stop this. Everything you think you hear or thought you saw… was a dream.” 

     Noel felt his lips quiver and slowly he repeated the words back, “It’s… just a dream.”

     Hope nodded and reached up to gently cradle the hunters face, “Yes. You’re not dead Noel. You’re with me.” Gently he brushed his lips against Noels.  “You’re home.” 

     Noels heart rang in his ears. He reached out and grabbed Hope around his waist, pulling him into embrace. It suddenly felt like all his dreams were coming true. Warmth washed over him. His happiness felt genuine. It had to be real. 

     In a soft whisper, Noel gave in, and made his choice. “I’m home.” 

                                 

* * *

 

     Slowly Serah approached the gate. The fear in her heart attacked her chest and drove tears from her eyes. For a moment, she envied Noel. She had rejected Lightning in New Bodhum and come to face reality. Forfeiting her deepest wants and desires, by turning away her paradise. Vanille and Fang brought her to Noel, hoping she could pull him away. However, things didn’t happen that way. 

     She stepped into its aura, swallowing hard. Serah had no idea where the gate went, or what would happen next. All she knew was Noel was gone.

     She would be going alone.


End file.
